Posted 1 year ago
collectorp…
(34 items)
Lipstick style tube sewing kit. It has 6 different colors of thread along with 2 needles, 1 straight pin and 1 safety pin. It measures 2 ¼ inches long with the cap on by ¾ inch wide at the bottom. It is unmarked. Any ideas on the age?
Hey, collectorpaul. :-)
This seems tough to date.
I see them out there described variously as "vintage," or 1950s (I saw one described as 1940s vintage out of the corner of my eye, but lost it):
https://www.rubylane.com/item/2254022-22-0005-GLS/Vintage-Lipstick-Sewing-Travel-Kit-Carry
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1155493164/vintage-metal-lipstick-tube-sewing-kit
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1227384894/vintage-lipstick-travel-sewing-kit
Part of the problem is that the concept seems to be enjoying a revival. There are all kinds of DIY links for turning an old lipstick into a sewing kit, and Amazon, AliExpress, etc, are selling brand new ones.
Now that I think about it, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I'm pretty sure that I used to have a camera brush styled that way.
A lipstick tube is a very handy format.
Thanks for the info keramikos. I have had this about 20 years and never gave it a second thought. I rediscovered it the other day and thought it was interesting.
collectorpaul, You're welcome. :-)
I decided to do a bit more digging, and found a blog piece in which somebody did a seriously deep dig on the history of the retractable lipstick tube:
https://collectingvintagecompacts.blogspot.com/2015/12/maurice-levy-man-who-never-invented.html
Here's the 1917 patent for a retractable lipstick tube:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US1236846/en
Here's the 1923 patent for a retractable lipstick tube that operates on a swivel:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US1470994/en
Interestingly, the concept of a retractable container for a brush goes back much further than one for lipstick:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US53923/en
https://patents.google.com/patent/US428415/en
Here's a 1965 patent for a retractable brush that's swivel-operated:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US3309728/en
Of course, those lipstick case-style sewing kits wouldn't need to be retractable, so ultimately, I don't know how old those might be. :-(
Thank you again keramikos